Okinawa: The Other Japan

For many Americans Japan is the land of demure geisha, pink cherry blossoms, dramatic temples and the breath-taking Mount Fuji. While all this is true, there is another side to Japan also. Mainland Japan is definitely having a moment in the media these days with record numbers of tourists checking it out. But, I am living on Okinawa. . . the Hawaii of Japan.

A Personality All Its Own

When I told my college roommate (who is from Tokyo) that I would be staying in Okinawa for a while she said, “Oh, Okinawa is where mainland Japanese people go for vacation. I’ve never been there, though!” We laughed about that, but it makes sense. As an American, I haven’t been to every vacation destination in my country either.

Let me introduce you to the other Japan.

Okinawa was originally part of the Ryukyu Kingdom before it was absorbed by Japan. Today, the diet is different from that of mainland Japan and the language is too. Though I don’t speak Japanese, I am told that the version spoken here is quite different than the version spoken on the mainland.

Less Kimono and More Grass Skirt

Okinawa is a cluster of islands. We are living on the largest one and have already visited one of the smaller ones nearby, which was only a one-hour flight. It is a truly tropical climate. In fact, we arrived late at night in August. The sun had been down for hours and the heat and humidity took our breath away. . . and we’re from Florida!

We can discuss its role in WWII another time, for now, just know that nearly every structure on the island was leveled during the war. After the war, they needed a cheap, quick way to rebuild that would be sturdy enough to withstand their frequent typhoons (we’ve had 3 in the last 3 months). Therefore, they constructed nearly every single building from poured concrete.

It is also a blue zone. That means it is one of the places in the world where people live a long, long time. They have an unusually high number of people over the age of 100. While this is due to lots of factors, most people comment on the diet. They eat seafood just like mainland Japanese people do, but they also eat a huge amount of pork. In addition, they make their soba noodles out of a different kind of flour than mainlanders. I don’t know the secret, but I am enjoying trying lots of different foods “for research.”

We will explore mainland Japan too, but for now, our Okinawan island experience is pretty darn cool. One final note: I didn’t edit or touch-up these pictures at all. These are the actual colors of the water and sky!